CU Buffs ready for Saturday's spring football game

Connor Wood will see first action at Folsom Field

CU Buffs fans will get their first chance to see quarterback Connor Wood in action during Saturday's spring football game at Folsom Field at 5 p.m.
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CLIFF GRASSMICK
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CU spring game

When: Saturday, 5 p.m.

Where: Folsom Field

What: The only spring football session open to the public. Admission is free. Also, at 3:30 p.m., there will be an alumni flag football game coached by Bill McCartney and Bob Simmons.

Three of the four largest crowds in the history of the Colorado spring football game have come in the past four years, but nobody is sure what to expect Saturday when it comes to interest in this year's offering.

Has a spring of closed practices created more intrigue that will bring Buffs fans out in droves for a 5 p.m., kickoff (KOA 850 AM), or will more fans opt out this year because the game is expected to feature only 30 live scrimmage plays along with situational work with many starters sitting out to protect themselves from injury or because they are already injured?

Saturday marks the first opportunity for fans to see Texas transfer Connor Wood play quarterback at Folsom Field, which is sure to attract some.

By all accounts, the former blue-chip recruit has done well this spring, making the most of his invaluable opportunity to take most of the snaps with the first-team offense while fellow sophomore Nick Hirschman recovers from his third foot surgery in the past nine months.

"Connor has been good," coach Jon Embree said. "He finished strong. His problem is he just needs to relax. At times he presses whether it's over-gripping the ball or trying to throw it real hard. He's just got to relax and spin it, but he had a good spring. I'm anxious to see Nick come back and see those guys compete and Shane (Dillon).

"It's fun when you have a quarterback competition because it forces them to really push themselves and really be on, every day, every pass counts."

Wood has been a fan favorite to earn the starting job in 2012 since he arrived in September of last season after finishing third in the summer quarterback competition with the Longhorns. He looks the part, has a work ethic that has impressed coaches and has started strong this spring after working mostly with the scout team last fall.

He is still early in the development stages with no college game experience to draw on and he faces a competition with Hirschman, who is popular among teammates and whom coaches characterized as being very competitive with former starter Tyler Hansen last summer before he was injured.

"My expectation coming in here was to execute as great as I can," Wood said. "I don't think in some areas I did that at points during spring ball. So I want those plays back, those periods back where I didn't do too well.

"I'm happy about how we did. Obviously, we've got to finish (Saturday) but there are things we've got to improve on."

Wood was excited to learn Saturday will be his first opportunity to run on to Folsom Field in uniform behind Ralphie V, but it's obviously much more important to him to be able to make that run as the starter when the season opens Sept. 2 in Denver against Colorado State.

Wood said he has to be more consistent and continue to develop command of the offense to reach that goal.

"What we hope as an offense is that we want them to see consistency," Wood said when asked what fans can expect Saturday. "From an offensive standpoint we really want to have a good showing. You know, it really doesn't matter about the fans and who is watching. That's not what we're about. No matter if no people are watching or if there is a stadium with 100,000 people, we've got to do our thing and be consistent and execute. That's what we want to get out of it."

Embree has been forced to endure a spring with a depleted roster because of injuries and an overall lack of depth in the program he inherited 15 months ago. He said he hopes to get through the spring game without losing any more players to injuries and begin to prepare for fall camp and the arrival of reinforcements.

Buffzone.com Mailbag

Former coach Bill McCartney will host a 2 p.m. luncheon Saturday in the practice bubble north of Folsom Field. Cost is $10. An alumni flag football game begins at Folsom Field at 3:30. ... CU is hosting approximately 50 recruits Saturday, including as many as 35 who have traveled to Boulder from other states to watch the Buffs' spring game and see the school.

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